Kidney cancer statistics

Kidney cancer is the 14th most common cancer worldwide

Kidney cancer is the ninth most commonly occurring cancer in men and the 14th most commonly occurring cancer in women. There were over 400,000 new cases in 2018. The top 20 countries with the highest incidence of kidney cancer in 2018 are given in the tables below.

The Continuous Update Project Panel judged there is strong evidence that greater body fatness and greater adult attained height increase the risk of kidney cancer. There is strong evidence that consuming alcoholic drinks decreases the risk of kidney cancer (up to two drinks per day, there was insufficient evidence to draw a conclusions for intakes above this level). See our report on alcoholic drinks for the evidence. There is some evidence that drinking water containing arsenic might increase the risk of kidney cancer. Read about all the evidence on kidney cancer in our Third Expert Report.

Age-standardised rates are used in the tables. This is a summary measure of the rate of disease that a population would have if it had a standard age structure. Standardisation is necessary when comparing populations that differ with respect to age because age has a powerful influence on the risk of dying from cancer.

Kidney cancer rates: both sexes

Belarus had the highest rate of kidney cancer in 2018, followed by Latvia.

Rank

Country

Age-standardised rate per 100,000

1

Belarus

16.8

2

Latvia

15.2

3

Lithuania

14.8

4

Czech Republic

14.7

5

Estonia

14.6

6

Slovakia

13.4

7

France (metropolitan)

12.5

8

Hungary

12.4

9

Iceland

11.9

10

Croatia

11.7

11

Uruguay

11.4

12

Ireland

11.3

13

US

10.9

14

Slovenia

10.5

15=

Canada

10.2

15=

Norway

10.2

15=

UK

10.2

18

Russia

10.0

19

Australia

9.8

20=

Belgium

9.4

20=

Singapore

9.4

Kidney cancer rates in men

Belarus had the highest rate of kidney cancer in men in 2018, followed by Estonia.

Rank

Country

Age-standardised rate per 100,000

1

Belarus

24.0

2

Estonia

21.3

3=

Czech Republic

20.7

3=

Latvia

20.7

5

Lithuania

20.2

6

Slovakia

18.3

7

France (metropolitan)

17.5

8

Croatia

17.0

9=

Hungary

16.6

9=

Singapore

16.6

11

Slovenia

15.9

12

Ireland

15.8

13

Norway

15.7

14

Uruguay

15.6

15

Iceland

14.9

16

US

14.4

17

Greece

14.1

18

Russia

13.6

19

Canada

13.5

20=

Spain

13.2

20=

UK

13.2

Kidney cancer rates in women

Belarus had the highest rate of kidney cancer in women in 2018, followed by Latvia.

Rank

Country

Age-standardised rate per 100,000

1

Belarus

11.6

2

Latvia

11.2

3

Lithuania

11.0

4

Estonia

9.7

5

Czech Republic

9.5

6

Slovakia

9.3

7

Iceland

8.9

8

Hungary

8.8

9

Uruguay

8.0

10

France (metropolitan)

7.9

11

US

7.8

12=

Russia

7.4

12=

UK

7.4

14=

Canada

7.2

14=

Croatia

7.2

14=

Malta

7.2

14=

Samoa

7.2

18

Ireland

7.1

19

Australia

6.9

20=

Belgium

6.8

20=

Ukraine

6.8

The data quoted on these webpages come from the Global Cancer Observatory, owned by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and are used with permission. The incidence statistics for 2018 are projections calculated from cancer registry data collected before 2018. Full information on the methods used by IARC is available here.